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Mental Health Speaker Tops Prince William Committee of 100 Guest List

The Prince William Committee of 100 will take up the topic of mental health during its February meeting.

Vice President of U.S. Health Vest Stacie York will join three other panelists at during the discussion to be held Feb. 20 at 7:45 p.m. at the Montclair Country Club in Woodbridge. U.S. Health Vest aims to build a 75-bed mental health facility in Woodbridge, according to a Committee of 100 press release.

A social hour will begin at 6:30 p.m. and a dinner service will begin at 7 p.m. prior to the start of the panel discussion.

The discussion will be moderated by Prince William Living Magazine Rebecca Barnes.

There is no charge to attend the discussion portion of the program. Committee of 100 members are charged $25 for dinner, and non members $30. Attendees are asked to RSVP by noon Monday, Feb. 17 by emailing secretarycommitteeof100[at]gmail.com.

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Recently, at a Prince William Chamber of Commerce event hosted at Potomac Place Assisted Living, Ms. Barnes spoke very rudely about someone with mental illness. She stated that the individual was “Bat**** crazy” and had spent time in the “looney bin” and even wrapped her arms around herself to indicate the use of a straight jacket.

I have contacted a representative of The Committee of 100 who has opted to simply make excuses for Ms. Barnes as opposed to speaking to the other people who also witnessed the incident.

Does this sound like someone who should moderate a forum regarding a discussion on mental health care?

Mental illness is exactly that, an illness and the people who suffer from it do not deserve to be ridiculed at the hands of someone like Ms. Barnes.

I would encourage everyone who is as appalled by this as I am to attend the event and speak out against the negative treatment of victims of mental illness and to question why a person with such negative views of an illness would be permitted to moderate a forum on the subject.

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